French police arrest 16 overnight as rioting subsides

FILE PHOTO: A vehicle is seen upside down during the fifth day of protests following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer in Nanterre during a traffic stop, in Paris, France, July 2, 2023. REUTERS/Juan Medina

PARIS (Reuters) - French police arrested 16 people overnight in connection with urban violence, the interior ministry said on Wednesday, indicating a further decrease in the scale of unrest that swept through poor French suburbs after a fatal police shooting last week.

The death on June 27 of Nahel M., a teenager of North African descent, after he was shot by a police officer in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, caused an outpouring of rage that led to nights of nationwide rioting and a muscular police crackdown.